Review Fix’s 2011 Tribeca Film Festival Coverage: ‘Stuck Between Stations’ Review

It captures the essence of a chance encounter by two people that should have been given a chance at love in what feels like another life. It fully demonstrates the beauty of openness in the face of insecurity. It’s beautifully shot. It’s even got two talented fresh faces in it too.

So why is “Stuck Between Stations” a mediocre romance drama?

With haphazard editing, a sloppy script and cameo appearances by respected Hollywood stars the likes of Michael Imperioli and Josh Hartnett that serve as mere plot devices, this film could use a heck of a lot more polish.

Ultimately, it’s hard to not appreciate the solid lead performances in the film, but it’s just not enough.

While it’s a film that will remind you of the Sundance hit from 2010 “Blue Valentine,” it lacks the character-driven focus that made that film solid. We don’t know too much about Rebecca (Zoe Lister-Jones) and Casper (Sam Rosen, who also co-wrote and co-produced the film) and by the end of film, our opinion of the pair hasn’t changed enough to make us believe they can thrive with each other as much as they could with a psychiatrist.

Both of these characters are scarred emotionally and as badly as you see the sincerity in their words, they’re just too damaged for us to feel truly compassionate about them. That’s not to say that these two don’t deserve to be happy. Everything just feels too inorganic to be taken seriously, from the fight that occurs that is the catalyst for their night-long adventure to all the little stops along the way that bring them closer together. That, combined with the shoddy and emotionless performances from Hartnett, Imperioli and the rest of the supporting cast turn this romance with two solid young actors into a scoff-filled mess.

Regardless, it should be said that Lister-Jones and Rosen give intimate and emotional performances and do their best to make the film watchable. There are so many instances in the film where they almost steal the show with a simple look in each other’s eyes. Regardless of what you eventually think of this film, it’s hard to deny how talented they both are.

However, with a script that bounces around like a wild spaldeen, it’s hard to notice that unlike every other facet of this film, these two aren’t playing around.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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